heavier faster

[Krakenlims]

so, i was thinking, if a thick neoprene suit and more weights (to counter) mean that the buoyancy change at depth is more than when using less weight and less neoprene..... then is this ever noticeable in shallow depth ?, coz if it was, it would mean for spearfishing/benthic activities in a thick suit, you are still buoyant when breathing up but become heavier at shallower depths,, which would be ideal. Why is there a more noticeable buoyancy change with thicker suits? compression of the neoprene? if this is the case, an extremely not dense neoprene would perhaps do the job of becoming heavier much faster...

 

[Bill]

'Why is there a more noticeable buoyancy change with thicker suits?'
At depth the suit loses buoyancy and the lead you use to offset it doesn't lose weight.

 

[shrek]

krakenlims why do you think being heavy is an advantage?
it is far better to be neutral at your spearfishing depth so that when you go to come up out of breath your not fighting weight to come up, it's also far safer and more relaxing

 

[Mullins]

it is far better to be neutral at your spearfishing depth so that when you go to come up out of breath your not fighting weight to come up, it's also far safer and more relaxing

Where'd you get that idea??

 

[shrek]

trying to discourage a diver from being over weighted

 

[Mullins]

Nice sentiment I guess. Seriously though.... surely SSI aren't teaching that? Spearos need similar weighting to freedivers. Buoyant on the surface, neutral in the middle, heavy on the bottom. Substantial glide phase on deeper dives, neutral point proportionately deeper on shallow dives (say, 50% of target depth). Some variation depending on exactly what you're doing, but very seldom would you want to be neutral on the bottom. Aside from the massive inefficiency of diving that light, you typically want to be quiet and still when you're on the bottom.

Krakenlims, yeah it's the gas in the suit that compresses and reduces your volume, making you heavier. The thicker the suit, the more gas and the bigger the change. So with a thick suit and assuming you keep the same neutral point, you'll be lighter on the surface and heavier on the bottom. Agreed, this can be useful for shallow spearfishing. It's a pain out deeper though.

 

[shrek]

your right dave maybe i misinterpreted the tone of the original post
it sounded to me as he was looking to be exessivly heavy as a means of gaining depth (not good practice) a lot depends on the depths you are looking to achive i hate to hear some one ended up freefalling beyond what they were capable of and blacking out trying to get back to the surface

 

[Mullins]

Oh, I see. Yeah plenty of divers seem to be weighted too heavy. I think many of them set their belts for the shallows but don't change them when they move out deeper.

 

[Bill]

I've made this comment before. There is no need to fill your lungs for shallow diving. With normal weighting and 3mm you can easily vary the neutral point from 20 meters to 10 with packing or FRC.